Thursday, 31 December 2009

In China, about 200,000 participants will take part in the national China Mathematical Competition held in October every year. Out of the 200,000 participants (and some more from CWMO and CGMO), eventually 6 will make it into the China IMO team. The chance is about 0.003%.

In Singapore, about 2,000 participants will take part in the Singapore Mathematical Olympiad (SMO) Open category each year (in exact figures, 1895 participants in 2007, 1945 participants in 2008 and 1877 participants in 2009 -statistics obtained from the Singapore Mathematical Society website). Out of these participants (and some more who have not taken part in SMO Open but are recommended to take the Open category Special Round), only 6 will make it into the Singapore IMO team. The chance is about 0.3% (only counting those who take part in the SMO Open, not the whole cohort!)

Therefore, it is 100 times harder to get into the China IMO team than to get into the Singapore IMO team! I won't be surprised if there are young Maths talents in China who may be able to beat Terence Tao's (Australian) record of being the youngest IMO Gold medalist (at 13) but unfortunately due to the stiff competition, they can't make it into the China IMO team (top 6) earlier!

Saturday, 26 December 2009

In China, every year in October, there is a national China Mathematical Competition, from which about 120 students are selected to join the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad (CMO), in January the following year. CMO lasts for five days, and the format and difficulty of the problems mirror those of the IMO - a 2-day competition where participants solve 3 problems each day in 4.5 hours. From CMO, about 20-30 students are selected to form a national training team.

Because of the differences in education and culture, Maths competitions in the Western part of China do not develop as fast as the eastern part. To promote Maths interest in the western China, the China Western Math Olympiad (CWMO) has been conducted since 2001, and the top 2 winners are invited to join the national training team.

From 1986 till a few years ago, the China team did not have any female trainee. To encourage more women to join the Maths competitions, since 2002, the China Girls Math Olympiad (CGMO) has been conducted to select female students gifted in Maths. Again, the top 2 winners are admitted directly into the national training team. The winner of CGMO 2007 joined the national training team in 2008 and she won a Gold medal for China in the 49th International Math Olympiad (IMO) held in 2009!

The China national training team undergoes intensive training and a 2-week Maths camp. After 6-8 tests, plus 2 qualifying examinations, 6 students are finally selected to form the national team, to take part in IMO in July that year. With a very huge pool of participants to select from, dedicated & experienced coachers, perservering & talented trainees and numerous stringent selection rounds, it's no wonder the China team has been doing very well in the IMO. Since 1985, China has taken part in the IMO 24 times (she missed the IMO held in Taiwan in 1998!) and has won the top ranking for countries 15 times!

Besides IMO, Singapore has also sent representatives to take part in the CMO, CWMO and CGMO. A team selected from our own national training team will participate in the CMO to be held in Chongqing, Sichuan, from 20-25 Jan 2010. The team comprises Vincent Tjeng (RI-JC), Ivan Loh (RI-JC), Lee You Jun (RI), Ryan Chan (NUSH), Ang Yan Sheng (NUSH) and I (NUSH). Our trainers cum teachers-in-charge Mr Lu and Mr Teo are also going. This trip is fully sponsored by MOE :-)

Monday, 21 December 2009

Hunter x Hunter is a nice and cool Japanese comic/anime! It is about Gon Freecss (the boy dressed in green), who one day discovers that the father he had always been told was dead is actually alive and well. He learns that his father, Ging Freecss, is a legendary, top-notch Hunter. The fishing rod (see picture) belongs to his father and is quite useful to Gon throughout his journey to look for his father.

Gon leaves home to take the Hunter qualification exam, where he meets Kurapika (the chain dude), Leorio (with tiny black specs) and Killua (white-haired). The four of them become good friends, while going through the grueling exam to get a Hunter license. Each year, less than one in a hundred thousand can pass the exam.

Kurapika has scalet eyes which are very powerful and will automatically surface when he is agitated. He wants to kill the Phantom Troupe for some reasons that are too long for me to narrate here. He looks like a girl but is a boy.

Leorio wants to be a doctor and loves money alot. He is kind of dumb and loves to shout and quarrel with Kurapika. He hates Tonpa, the Rookie Crusher, whom he met in the Hunter exam.

Killua is from a family of elite assassin. During the exam, he plucks a criminal's heart in a split second and crushes it. He says his skill is only elementary and that his father can take out the heart without any traces of blood. He is the only one of the four good friends to fail the exam in the final phase as he kills someone on impulse, agitated by his brother (Illumi)'s taunting remarks.

There are so many things to say about this story with its many fascinating characters (e.g. Hisoka the creepy magician, Illumi, Chairman Netero, Honzo the baldie etc) and unique storyline. So just go and watch or read it. It is really a very absorbing story. Even my mother is addicted to watching it. Of course that includes the 3 of us.

Above picture: Hunter x Hunter DVDs and comic books which we borrowed from the library. Each DVD has 5 episodes in it and each DVD box contains 3 DVDs. We had borrowed volume 1 and 2 from the library (the only 2 the library has) which totaled 30 episodes, from the beginning to the end of the Hunter Exam. That is from comic book 1 to half of book 5. But the DVDs have extra scenes that the comic book does not have. The library has up to book 25. The beginning (1st episode) is kind of boring but from the time when Gon begins to journey towards the venue of the Hunter exam, it gets very exciting and entertaining. When we went to Jurong Regional Library to borrow, initially we couldn't find the DVDs in the Young People DVD anime section where other anime such as Inuyasha and Naruto were located. But later we found the Hunter x Hunter DVDs in the Adult DVD section, which was kind of wierd!!

Wednesday, 16 December 2009

My mother exchanged the book vouchers which we won in the Australian Maths competition, for the above 3 books. The green one (Australian Maths Olympiad) is lousy. The solutions are too whacking, there are many errors and two of the questions are exactly the same (1982 & 1986). Buy it at your own risk.
The giant red ugly, hideous, with ridiculously simple questions and costly (if without voucher) book is for my younger sister.

Friday, 4 December 2009

If you can't find some comic books in the library, here is where they have gone to. My sisters wanted the Skip Beat comic books, not me. I only read Naruto and Case Closed. We have been reading comic books every day.

Saturday, 28 November 2009

This comic series is about a 17-year-old high school prodigious detective named Jimmy Kudo who was turned into a small tiny first-grader (and thereafter known as Conan Edogawa) after 2 men in black poisoned him. Read to find out how Conan solved many mysteries and criminal cases ... you can either borrow the comic books from the library or read from http://www.onemanga.com/Detective_Conan/

Chinese 2B - Jeck writes well but he has to maintain consistency in his performance. He is a pleasant student who is capable of attaining better results.

Foundation Chemistry 2 - Lim Jeck has done well in this module. He has no difficulty understanding the concepts taught, and is able to acquire new knowledge quickly, as well as transfer his knowledge to other contexts. He has very high academic potential.

Kitchen Chemistry - Lim Jeck is a bright boy who shows interest in the practical sessions. He has the ability to do better for the module with more consistent effort to produce quality work.

Introduction to Visual Basic .NET Programming - Lim Jeck is a very bright boy who has the potential to do well in computing. He is always able to pick up the concepts taught quickly and apply them immediately to a problem posed. He is strongly encouraged to explore further in the area of computing.

Language for Literary and Functional Purpose - Jeck is a sincere and cheerful student who takes pride in his work. However, he should seek help whenever in doubt. Do participate more actively in class discussions too!

Calculus I - Jeck is well above his peers in terms of his mathematical talent.

Polar Coordinates, Parametric and Vector Functions - Jeck is well-behaved and attentive in class. He does all his assignments and submits them punctually. He has shown great enthusiasm in his learning.

Foundational Physics II - Lim Jeck is a smart student whose strong Math foundation helps him a lot in Physics. He is capable of independent work of excellent quality. His potential in Physics should be treated equally as his Math.

Mentor Remarks : Conduct: Very Good. Jeck is a polite, cheerful and humble student who has done extremely well in the various Mathematics competitions, bringing much glory to the school. Despite his numerous achievements, he treats his peers humbly and adopts a serious attitude towards his studies, in pursuit of even better results. However, he should learn to speak up more in class.

Sunday, 15 November 2009

My sisters and I have created the following clip on our Tungsten palm PDA. There are a total of 1576 drawings that we have created (over many days). Some parts are not so clear as our camera shook a bit when we took the video.

Wednesday, 4 November 2009

We were given the contest problems in 2 languages (in our case, English & Chinese), 20 sheets of paper to do our work, 1 sheet of paper for asking a question to the jury, 3 coloured problem folders per day, and five coloured cards (see below, self-explanatory) which we could use anytime during the competition.

There is no exam for VB .Net Programming (elective) and Kitchen Chemistry (enrichment). For Programming, though there is no exam, this semester we have had 6 assignments, 2 written tests, 2 practical tests and 1 project. It is still my favourite! I will develop more games after my exams.

Good news is ... most of my modules this semester are non-study subjects so I do not have to memorise many facts :-)

Saturday, 24 October 2009

Training for the National Team starts today. I saw many familiar faces, from my school, from RI, RGS, HCI and ACS(I). There were 28 of us, the instructors were the usual ones like Prof Tay and Prof Wong from NUS Maths Dept and Mr Teo, but with two new x-men (a term to describe Singapore IMO alumni). After introducing ourselves to each other, we played some maths (so predictable right) games – solving questions in teams. I think my team did the worst amongst all the 4 teams, but at least our team was the funniest. It’s only 3 hours and the first day, so nothing much happened.

The actual weekly training will start next Saturday, from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm, at NUS Maths Dept. I think it will end sometime next May, just before the National Team Selection Test. The next 51th IMO will be held at Kazakhstan (somewhere in Russia), in the city of Astana, from 2 to 15 July 2010.

Thursday, 22 October 2009

The Australian Mathematics Trust Annual Awards Presentation was held at the Novotel Clarke Quay Hotel this evening. There were 9 of us who won the Peter O'Halloran Award for Excellence for getting perfect score in the Australian Mathematics Competition, 7 for Junior and 2 for Intermediate.

My sister won a Prize Award for the Australian Mathematics Competition (Intermediate) and Perfect Score for Australian Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad (AIMO).

The food was not palatable, only plain donuts, samosas, chicken nuggets, cake, coke, plain water, coffee and tea were served. Unlike last year, cash cheque was not given for Prize awards, which means I did not earn any money this round. Instead, I got a gold medal and a book voucher, and my sister got 2 book vouchers. These are neither Popular nor Borders book vouchers, but we have to pick one Maths olympiad book from a list and fax it to the University of Canberra in Australia.

Wednesday, 14 October 2009

It is hosted by Columbus State University’s College of Education. There are 4 categories: Problem of the Week, Algebra in Action, Middle School Madness and Elementary Brain Teaser.

Questions in the last 2 categories are usually more elementary. I will usually try to solve the problems in the first 2 categories, while my younger sister will attempt questions in the last 2 categories. If you know the answers, you can submit them. Your name will be published immediately (usually within a day) after your answer has been reviewed and it is correct.

There is a problem a week (every Monday) for each category. I chanced upon this website only recently and I like it! You can also try the past problems, or problems in Challenge Mode (where <50% students got the answers correct).

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Another question posted on my blog:
Jim bought some chocolates and gave half of it to Ken. Ken bought some sweets and gave half of it to Jim. Jim ate 12 sweets and Ken ate 18 chocolates. The ratio of Jim’s sweets to chocolates became 1:7 and the ratio of Ken’s sweets to chocolates became 1:4. How many sweets did Ken buy?

My mother asked my younger sister to solve this question, and her solution (it is correct) is as follows:

Given: String of 2 big balloons is 90cm String of 5 small balloons is is 1.2m If both strings are of the same length, there would be 105 more small balloons than the big balloons. How many balloons are there altogether?

105 small balloons would have a length of (105/5) X 1.2 = 25.2m = 2520cm

Sunday, 4 October 2009

Yesterday was the Mid-Autumn Festival (also known as Mooncake Festival), and our Queens condo had a mini celebration for the residents, with games and food (mooncakes, tea, pomelo, crackers etc.). There were Pomelo Peeling Competition, National Constume Competition and Lantern Making Competition. After the various competitions, there were one Indian dance by mother & daughter pair, and four Japanese dance performances by young Japanese boys and girls, as there are many Japanese families (>100?) staying in our Condo.

My sister won the first prize in the Lantern Making Competition, and her team (comprising my two sisters and two other friends) also won the 2nd prize in the Pomelo Peeling Competition. They received some Popular book vouchers (worth $40 in total).

Wednesday, 30 September 2009

Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who won the Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent", in June 2009. Her "sand painting" illustrates Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII. As the adage goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words". Her drawing was so incredible and touching that you can see the audience and the judge tearing. You can follow the story line even if you don't understand the song lyrics and words. What an amazing and talented artist!!

Saturday, 26 September 2009

Jeck uses judgment to make decisions. He is ruled by his head, not his heart. He is a cool, collected person who is usually unexpressive emotionally. Some may see him as unemotional. He does have emotions but has no need to express them. He is withdrawn into himself and enjoys being alone.

The circumstances when Jeck does express emotions include: extreme anger, extreme passion, and tremendous stress. If someone gets him mad enough to tell him off, he will not be sorry about it later. He puts a mark in his mind when someone angers him. He keeps track of these marks and when he hits that last mark he will let them know they have gone too far. He is ruled somewhat by self-interest. All his conclusions are made without outside emotional influence. He is very level-headed and will remain calm in an emergency situation. In a situation where other people might get hysterical, he has poise.

Jeck will work more efficiently if given space and time to be alone. He would rather not be surrounded by people constantly. In a relationship, he will show his love by the things he does rather than by the things he says. Jeck is not subject to emotional appeals. If someone is selling a product to him, they will need to present only the facts. They should present them from a standpoint of his sound judgment. He will not be taken in by an emotional story about someone else. He will meet emergencies without getting hysterical and he will always ask "Is this best for me?"

People that write their letters in an average height and average size are moderate in their ability to interact socially. According to the data input, Jeck doesn't write too large or too small, indicating a balanced ability to be social and interact with others.

Jeck will be candid and direct when expressing his opinion. He will tell them what he thinks if they ask for it, whether they like it or not. So, if they don't really want his opinion, don't ask for it!

In reference to Jeck's mental abilities, he has a very investigating and creating mind. He investigates projects rapidly because he is curious about many things. He gets involved in many projects that seem good at the beginning, but he soon must slow down and look at all the angles. He probably gets too many things going at once. When Jeck slows down, then he becomes more creative than before. Since it takes time to be creative, he must slow down to do it. He then decides what projects he has time to finish. Thus he finishes at a slower pace than when he started the project.

He has the best of two kinds of minds. One is the quick investigating mind. The other is the creative mind. His mind thinks quick and rapidly in the investigative mode. He can learn quicker, investigate more, and think faster. Jeck can then switch into his low gear. When he is in the slower mode, he can be creative, remember longer and stack facts in a logical manner. He is more logical this way and can climb mental mountains with a much better grip.

Jeck is a practical person whose goals are planned, practical, and down to earth. This is typical of people with normal healthy self-esteem. He needs to visualize the end of a project before he starts. he finds joy in anticipation and planning. Notice that I said he plans everything he is going to do, that doesn't necessarily mean things go as planned. Jeck basically feels good about himself. He has a positive self-esteem which contributes to his success. He feels he has the ability to achieve anything he sets his mind to. However, he sets his goals using practicality-- not too "out of reach". He has enough self-confidence to leave a bad situation, yet, he will not take great risks, as they relate to his goals. A good esteem is one key to a happy life. Although there is room for improvement in the confidence catagery, his self-perception is better than average.

Jeck is very self-sufficient. He is trying not to need anyone. He is capable of making it on his own. He probably wants and enjoys people, but he doesn't "need" them. He can be a loner.

Sunday, 13 September 2009

This afternoon my family went to watch this korean comic martial arts performance at the Esplanade Theatre. The ticket costs $38 per person, but it might not be worth its value since we were late by half an hour. We took a bus there, halfway through the journey my sisters needed to visit the toilet. So we alighted at suntec city bus-stop. There was a queue at the toilet and as there was a Comex 2009 computer exhibition/PC show going on, we had to push our way through the throng of visitors. After they were out, we hurried towards Marina Square. Being unfamiliar with the place, we asked for directions many times, wasted alot of time and waited very long for my very, extremely, slow, tortoiselike, draggy, dilly-dally father who sauntered behind us. As we were scurrying for the Theatre, my sister fell and bruised her leg. I was a little envious of her, as she got a free sweet from the Esplanade lady who tended to her abrasion.
JUMP tells the story of a Korean family well-versed in martial arts, including a crotchety grandfather. Some parts are hilarious, esp. the scene with two burglars break into their house. There are many showdowns on martial arts, acrobatic and gymnastic moves, as well as comic acting.

Wednesday, 9 September 2009

Holidays time = puzzle time again. My mother has just bought a new 1000-pc puzzle from Takashimaya. I took a few days (2-3 hours a day) to fix it. On the box it says 'world's smallest 1000-pc jigsaw puzzle'. The other postcard-size puzzle is an old 204-pc puzzle, which I have fixed many times already. You can see a actual size postcard below the box. I have placed one 5-cent coin and one 10-cent coin next to the single pieces, so that you can have a feel of the size of the pieces.

Saturday, 29 August 2009

Why do I like Maths?
It is very easy and I can earn money by winning competitions. ;-)

Why do I like programming?
Just like Maths, it's easy to me. Same for Physics and Chemistry.

Why do I hate Chinese (the language, not the people)?
I just do.

What is my favourite food?
Chicken rice, duh. I eat it everyday in the school canteen.

What is the brand of the computer I am using?
Dell

What is my favourite hobby?
Is sleeping a hobby?

What is my favourite object?
FUNNEL!

What is my favourite number?
6262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262 (There are 62 62s and 124 digits. You can count them if you don't believe me)

What is my favourite key on the keyboard?

What is my favourite key on the keyboard (piano)?The most left one.

Which Math topic do I like most?Geometry

Why is there no answer to the question above on my favourite keyboard key?It is the space key, silly! Can't you see it?

Saturday, 22 August 2009

Sorry I was too busy to blog, as I have a few tests last week. I was also catching up on a few assignments which were not done due to the IMO training and competition.

I think CS2201 Visual Basic .Net Programming is taking up the most of my time now (it's still my favourite subject), as there is a programming assignment almost every week or alternate week, and we also have a project to do. I have already submitted my proposal - it's an educational mathematical game where a climber must ascend a mountain amidst the rising water level (caused by global warming); he must race against the rising water level by answering simple arithmetic questions correctly (difficulty level increases as he climbs higher) otherwise he will be drowned once the water level reaches above his head.

Friday, 14 August 2009

This is a very interesting music video. My sisters like it but my friend Kendrick doesn't. You must complete the whole game to hear this video, which is also the credits. The song itself is enchanting and funny. Also, try clicking the help button and see what it says.

If you haven't completed the game yet, you may not fully appreciate the song. When you are really desperate to complete the game quickly, the best way is probably using cheat engine, which is what I did.

Saturday, 8 August 2009

The SMO 2009 preliminary results (no ranking for top placings) were out a few days ago. I think this year, NUS High did quite well overall. For Individual top 10 rankings, NUS High took 4 places in Junior, 3 places in Senior and 3 places in Open categories. NUS High also took top 3 places in all categories' team award.

I massively failed Round 1 in Junior. It's worse than what I expected!

This year's cut-off for Junior Round 2 is 7 (ridiculously low, which means one will get a Silver with just 7 marks, last year's cut-off was 14), and cut-off for Gold award is 12 (even more ridiculously low, last year it was 23!).

update: someone commented in 'Comments' that the cut-off for Junior Round 2 is 9, and 7 will still get a Silver. But I have just checked, the cut-off should be 8 (100% sure). Sorry for the mistake above.

Wednesday, 5 August 2009

I am now playing this new game. You are a house owner and you must plant zombie-zapping plants such as peashooters, wall-nuts, cherry bombs and more to defend against many types of zombies (including a super big giant that smashes everything in 1 hit) before they can reach your front door.

Each zombie has its own special skills, like the super big giant that can smash everything in 1 hit, so you’ll need to think fast and plant faster to combat them all, like putting a doom shroom to kill an imp. Below are some screenshots. Just play it. It is fun.

Thursday, 23 July 2009

Just came back from Germany. The Singapore team won 2 Silver medals, 3 Bronze medals and 1 Honourable Mention. We are ranked 30 out of 104 countries. The top 5 countries are: China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and North Korea.

Excusion again. Took photo with one of the speakers and our tour guide.

Ok, things that I can remember:
a) The food there tasted horrible. Every grain of rice there was very big and does not stick, so the rice kept falling off my plate.
b) Everything there costs more than 2 times the price in Singapore, especially in the airport where a bottle of mineral water costs 3 euros (S$6).
c) At 10pm in Germany, it’s as bright as 6pm in Singapore. At 3am in Germany, it’s as bright as 6.30am in Singapore.
d) I heard the China team completed the first day very quickly, and were writing more solutions to the same questions to hope for special prize.
e) We went to a climate house, where one of the rooms was a very dark rainforest. Ivan got lost there. Later he saw us at another room but when he went there, we were gone. Since he was far behind time, he ate at the café and was more behind time. Later we made an announcement: “Ivan, please come to the exit.” Then he met us there.
f) “fer-sa-gern” (don’t know how to spell or pronounce) means fail.
g) Germany does not sell chicken rice.
h) Ryan bought a very small soft red bolster for 10 euro, I think.
i) They played werewolf with the Philippines, while I was asleep.
j) We played werewolf with the China team.
k) Seashores are windy, even the birds are blown away by the wind.
l) The red light is a lot bigger than the green light (in Germany’s traffic lights).

Tuesday, 14 July 2009

Sunday, 12 July 2009

Tonight I will be flying to Germany for the 50th IMO.
The itinerary is as follows:
12 Jul: Singapore / Frankfurt
13 Jul: Frankfurt / Bremen
14 Jul: Opening Ceremony
15 & 16 Jul: 1st and 2nd day of competition
17 & 18 Jul: Excursion
19 Jul: 50th IMO Anniversary Celebration
20 Jul: Excursion
21 Jul: Closing Ceremony & Farewell Dinner
22 & 23 Jul: Depart back to Singapore
I heard the legendary Terence Tao will be there. He was the youngest person to win a gold medal at the age of 13 in IMO 1988. He is now Professor Terence Tao!
I will not update my blog until I return from Germany.

Saturday, 11 July 2009

My sister just came back from South Africa, from the IWYMIC maths competition. The teams from RI & RGS won 1 Gold, 2 Silvers, 4 Bronzes and 1 Merit for individual awards. My sister won a Silver medal. Some photos taken are below: